She was the quiet woman of Surrealist Paris and an enigmatic muse that inspired some of the greatest art of the 1930s and 40s.

But Nusch Éluard, a beautiful model who sat for Picasso and posed for Man Ray, has been largely overlooked by history since her death in 1946.

In a bid to restore Éluard to her rightful place in the Parisian artistic pantheon, a French writer has this week published the first official biography of a woman thought to have played a crucial, if subtle, role in the flowering of one of the 20th century's boldest movements.

For Chantal Vieuille, author of Nusch: Portrait d'une muse du Surréalisme, Éluard deserves to be remembered not only for the impact she had on the men around her but also for her liberated approach. "She incarnated an ideal femininity because she was very free," said Vieuille at the book's launch in Paris.

Born in 1906 as Maria Benz in Mulhouse, she moved to Paris in 1928 and worked as hypnotist's helper to earn a living. In 1930, while wandering through central Paris, she was approached the Surrealist poets René Char, and Paul Éluard – whom she married four years later.

Éluard was one of the most beloved figures of the Surrealists. As wife of Paul Éluard she became the muse of Pablo Picasso, Man Ray, René Magritte and Joan Miró. Her role was not limited to the inspiration of others: she is believed to have made Surrealist collages while battling with insomnia – works described by Timothy Baum, a New York-based art dealer, as "exquisite".

According to Baum, who was a friend of May Ray, her death of a stroke at 40 was a hammer-blow to the group.